"Everyone's staring at us," I whispered as I walked down the aisle with our basket in hand. My tails were almost down between my legs, while my ears drooped to either side. "I can even hear a few of them whispering."
Unlike me, Yuki didn't seem to mind the extra attention. Then again, being hidden inside our headspace meant she wasn't the one being gawked at. Her ears were up and tails all swishing around behind her as she shrugged, "They're just jealous."
"Honestly Aster," she added a moment later, "Just try and ignore them, ok? You look amazing."
That put a little smile on my face and I quietly replied, "Thanks Yuki. I'm still not entirely comfortable with all the attention, but I suppose I'll get used to it."
We were out doing our grocery shopping, but it was just past noon on Saturday and it felt like half the population of Brighton was also out getting their groceries with us. And unfortunately I was feeling kind of self-conscious, because practically everyone else around was acting like they'd never seen a kitsune before.
It wasn't so bad back in Scotland, but I chalked that up to the fact that we were on vacation. That and neither the inn or the little shop in Grantown-on-Spey were all that busy when we were there.
This was different, this was home. Last time we were at Tesco nobody looked twice at us, we were just another normal person getting their weekly groceries. Now it felt like everyone was staring, and they all had opinions and theories about what was wrong with us. And thanks to my tall fuzzy foxy ears, I had no trouble hearing what they were saying when they whispered to each other.
I stifled a sigh as I added a couple loafs of bread to our basket then commented quietly, "At least Cara didn't insist on coming in with us. It's bad enough hearing what people are saying about my ears and tails, I'd hate to think what sort of comments they'd be making if I had to walk around the store with a raven on my head."
"Not that they'd let her come in with us anyways," I added as I checked our shopping list again. "I'm sure there's rules against bringing pets into a grocery store."
Our new friend reverted to her normal form after breakfast, then insisted on accompanying us when we went shopping. I was actually starting to suspect she enjoyed riding with us on the bike, but she was much too proud to admit it. Instead she claimed she needed to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't get lost.
So I had her tucked under my jacket against my chest again when we went out this morning to find some more clothes. Then after we parked the bike she flew off to explore the area while we were in the store.
Yuki and I did our best to keep the costs down but we still ended up spending a little more than we'd planned. At least we managed to get ourselves enough that we could get through a full week before we had to do laundry. We also got another pair of shoes, some boots, and a cute hoodie. And finally, we picked up a few things for Cara, after estimating her sizes.
Then the three of us headed back home to put away our new purchases, before setting out once more to get groceries for the week. And like earlier, our raven friend opted to explore outside the store.
"Actually I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a problem for her to come inside with us," Yuki responded. Then she added in a teasing tone, "Their policy allows service animals, so if they refused her entry after she said you were her service fox that'd count as discrimination."
My cheeks went red as I grumbled quietly, "Except I'm not her service fox!"
Yuki just giggled and swished her tails at me while I continued on down the next aisle. And despite my embarrassment, one nice thing about talking with -- or being teased by -- my favourite little arctic kitsune was it took my mind off the other stuff. I stopped noticing the stares, and stopped listening to the whispered comments.
So I was actually feeling a little better by the time we went through the self-checkout. I carefully loaded all our groceries into our backpack, then we headed out to the parking lot where we left our bike. And that's when my mood took another tumble.
"What now?" I muttered to myself as my shoulders slumped and my tails drooped behind my legs. "He can't be writing us a ticket, the bike's legally parked and we haven't done anything wrong!"
There was a police car stopped in the parking lot right behind our bike, blocking our view of it. And the cop himself was standing in between his car and our Rebel, with his back to us as he faced our bike. I couldn't quite tell what he was up to though, until I got a little closer.
Then a cold weight settled in my gut as I whispered, "Oh no."
"There you are Aster," Cara said as she spotted me. "This annoying person is bothering me and refuses to leave me alone. Please be a dear and make him go away."
She was sitting on our bike seat, probably waiting for us to return. Except she wasn't in her raven form anymore. And we hadn't brought any of her new clothes with us, since she'd been a bird when we left the house. And just like first thing this morning, she'd found something of ours to wear. Unfortunately it wasn't exactly appropriate attire.
Or in other words, the tall dark-skinned beauty was seated on our bike in the Tesco parking lot wearing nothing but our motorcycle helmet. Fortunately we'd parked next to the building, and with cars to either side plus the police car behind the bike it meant Cara wasn't all that visible to the general public. Then again, someone had to have seen her and called the police.
Meanwhile the cop turned our way to see who she was talking to. He already had one eyebrow arched, then the other one crept upwards as well when he saw my tall fuzzy black ears drooping down to either side and the three floofy tails hanging down between my legs.
"Great," he muttered to himself, "Another one. Must be a full moon tonight."
Cara frowned as she corrected him, "The full moon was five days ago, and I fail to see how that's even relevant."
"Cara what are you doing?" I asked as I moved around the cop to stand beside her and our bike.
I was doing my best to keep the stress out of my voice, I tried to act calm and casual like this was no big deal. In reality though my heart was going a mile a minute and my mind raced as I tried to figure out how we were going to get out of this.
Before our friend could respond the cop spoke up again. He demanded, "Are you responsible for this woman? What are you, her caregiver or something? I'm going to have to take her in for indecent exposure, but she refuses to get off the bike. And she won't tell me her full name."
"I told you my name, it's Cara!" she stated indignantly. "And there's nothing indecent about me, I'll have you know!"
The cop sighed then focused on me again. And that's when I remembered that I didn't look anything like the picture on our drivers licence anymore, so the cop probably wouldn't believe it was really mine. That thought led to visions of getting arrested for identity theft, or for stealing our own motorcycle.
Yuki could tell I was worried, but luckily she had an idea. She asked, "Cara would you please give Aster her helmet, then change back to your normal form? It's time for all three of us to head home."
"Just act casual Aster," the little arctic kitsune added. "Change your ears, put on the helmet, and get on the bike. Make like it's completely normal. If the cop doesn't get out of our way go around him. There's plenty of room to get the bike out by the back of his car."
I realized she was suggesting we reveal our magic to the cop, but I had no idea how he'd react to that. On the other hand Cara didn't seem to have a problem with the idea.
She slipped the helmet off her head and held it out for me as she replied, "Of course Yuki."
As soon as I took the helmet our friend's body collapsed in on itself, which caused the cop to let out a yelp of alarm. He stumbled backwards until his back was pressed against the side of his car, while he stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the large black raven that was perched on the bike seat where a tall beautiful woman had been sitting a moment earlier.
"Thanks Cara," I mumbled as I concentrated on my ears.
The cop's expression remained just as shocked as he watched my fuzzy black fox ears vanish and human ears appear in their place. I slipped on the helmet and did it up, then got into position on the bike.
As our raven friend took her place nestled inside our jacket and between my boobs she reminded me, "I still want a proper helmet and goggles Aster. Not that I don't trust you, but it's a matter of safety."
"Yeah I know," I grimaced. "And I still need a helmet that works with my fox ears."
Then I started up the bike, and carefully manoeuvred it around the parking spot until we could get out past the back of the police car. And the whole time, the cop just stood there with his mouth hanging open as he stared. My three tails swished around behind my back as we drove away, and a few seconds later we were out of the parking lot and on our way back home again.
"Like I figured," Yuki announced with a smug grin on her face, "A little magic demonstration was all it took to shut him down."
I frowned, "I think it was risky. He could have freaked out instead."
"The important thing is the annoying man is no longer bothering me. So thank you Yuki and Aster for taking care of that problem," Cara commented.
"Yes," I muttered to myself as I rolled my eyes, "That was the important part."
Yuki pretended not to hear me as she responded, "You're welcome Cara!"
A few minutes later we were back at our flat again. Then while I put away all our groceries I tried to educate Cara about the whole clothing situation and why the cop was hassling her in the first place. She was still in her raven form, perched on the back of a chair as she watched and listened.
I wasn't terribly surprised when she declared the whole thing to be silly and pointless. As far as she was concerned the only reason humans should need clothing was if they got cold. Which she cited as a particular failing of the species, since they lacked warm insulating feathers.
In the end I had no idea if she'd bother with clothes next time she was in a human shape, but I really didn't feel like arguing with her. And not just because she had a way of making it seem like she always won.
Then after the last of the groceries were put away Yuki asked, "Is it time to try experimenting with magic?"
"Yeah," I smiled, while my ears stood up and my tails swished in excitement. "Doing the thing with my ears is almost easy now. I was thinking I'd try something with my tails next."
The little arctic kitsune grinned, "You're going to try and make more of them?"
"Yep," I nodded.
My expression became serious as I focused on them. There were three, and while my ultimate goal was nine I figured four was a more realistic goal for today. Unfortunately it turned out not to be that easy. After a solid hour of focus and effort and listening to Cara's 'helpful' tips and suggestions, I'd managed to make some changes to my tails, but not the one thing I really wanted.
In terms of numbers, I could go down to two tails, or one tail. Or even no tails at all, which along with the trick with my ears meant I could make myself look like a completely normal human girl. But no matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to make myself grow a fourth tail.
"Maybe we need to drink more of that magic mountain water?" Yuki finally suggested. "After all, the number of tails on a kitsune is linked to their age and strength, right? And we're pretty sure we got our magic in the first place after getting dunked in the water."
That left me frowning, "Yeah you're right."
After another few seconds I added, "Anyways it's still pretty good progress? Even though it feels weird as heck not having any tails, I could disguise myself as a normal human if I had to. I'll bet with a little more practice I could learn to make other changes too? Like hair colour, eye colour, maybe even my height and looks?"
"Perhaps you'll even be able to turn yourself into a proper fox at some point," Cara suggested.
"Yeah maybe," I nodded. "I'm not sure I'm ready to give that a try just yet though? I think I need to get more practice doing other changes. Except right now I could actually use a break."
Yuki asked, "Can I take over then? I need to learn how to do this stuff too!"
"Of course," I smiled as I shifted into our headspace. I gave the little arctic kitsune a hug and added, "Good luck!"
"Thanks Aster!" she grinned as she hugged me back. Then she gave me a kiss before she moved out to take over our body, which automatically shifted to hers as soon as she was fronting.
Then she commented, "I guess I'll try something small at first? I'll try and change my ears, since that's the first thing you did."
For the next ten or twelve minutes she frowned and focused and concentrated on her ears, but without any success. I kept quiet so as not to distract her, until I could see she was starting to get frustrated. Just when I was about to suggest she should take a break we were all startled by a loud SNAP! sound, followed by a flash from the light fixture in the ceiling above us.
"What was that?" I gasped as my tails twitched anxiously. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," Yuki replied as she looked up. Then her eyes widened as we saw a small black scorch mark in the middle of the fixture.
The arctic kitsune gasped as her tails swished around happily, "No way! Lightnings?!"
She turned and pointed at our coffee table as she focused. There was another loud SNAP! accompanied by an arc of blue electricity. It leaped from her finger to the corner of the table, and left a larger burn mark on the edge of the wood surface.
"Yes!" Yuki exclaimed. "I got lightnings!"